Alex Jones will lose not only the Infowars site itself, but also all inventory, customer lists, production equipment, cars and access to his social media accounts - among many other things.
The new owners will wind down the current business and instead use the Infowars brand to mock Alex Jones and "other weird internet personalities".
The left-wing satirical magazine The Onion has merged with the US gun control group Everytown and won the purchase of the world's largest alternative media house - Infowars.
In 2022, Alex Jones was ordered to pay $1.4 billion to the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults.
According to the plaintiffs, Jones had caused them great emotional harm by claiming that the shooting was staged or faked so that the US government could pass draconian gun laws and that the victims' relatives appearing on television broadcasts were in fact hired actors.
The families' lawyers insisted that Infowars and its parent company Free Speech Systems LLC also be shut down and sold to settle some of the debt.
Jones tried to save the business by filing for bankruptcy protection but was denied this and he was therefore forced to put Infowars and all its assets up for auction as well. Exactly how much money The Onion and Everytown will have to pay to take over the media house is not clear, but it is said to be in the seven figures.
Tried to stop the auction
“The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash”, said The Onion's CEO Ben Collin in a press release. Or Bitcoin. We will also accept Bitcoin.
“The dissolution of Alex Jones' assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for”, said Robbie Parker, parent of a girl killed at Sandy Hook.
Alex Jones is being forced to give up not only the Infowars site itself, but also all intellectual property, inventory, customer lists, production equipment and social media accounts. Cars and an online store for dietary supplements have also been auctioned off.
Jones confirmed the sale on social media yesterday and announced that he will take legal action to try to stop it. He has also said he will move the broadcasts to a new platform if Infowars is bought by political opponents.
Going to make fun of Jones
Founded in 1999, Infowars has at times had more than 10 million unique visitors each month - more than many establishment media outlets.
The Onion is owned by tech entrepreneur Jeff Larson and its CEO Ben Collins is a former NBC reporter focused on reporting on “disinformation, extremism and the internet”. Former executives of TikTok, Timblr and dating app Bumble also sit on the Onion's board.
The satirical magazine says it will relaunch Infowars in January - but not as an investigative news outlet - but as a “parody site” that will, among other things, mock and poke fun at “weird internet personalities” like former owner Alex Jones.
According to media reports, a judge on Friday morning decided to temporarily “pause” The Onion's winning bid - to discuss whether the people who led the auction really conducted “a fair and full process”. Even Jones himself says that the auction is not yet over.
